In the current environment, no centralized storage of clinical health records exists for those residing in the United States. Rather, these records are stored in hard copy or electronic format in numerous locations and on a large variety of disparate systems. Timely and secure access to a patient's clinical health record for the purpose of providing medical care is a necessity to providing the best clinical care possible.
One such type of clinical record storage is a personal health record. (PHR). Unlike electronic health records maintained by healthcare providers, a PHR is typically maintained in part by the patient with the patient also having full control of access to the PHR. A study released in April 2010 by the California Healthcare Foundation titles “Consumers and Health Information Technology: A National Survey” reports that PHR usage in the U.S is currently at 7% of the population. Although this number has doubled over the past two years, the vast majority of the population does not maintain a personal health record. The California Healthcare Foundation report found that of those without a PHR, 58% would be interested in using one provided by their healthcare providers.